Rather than a single island, Fiji is in fact an archipelago of approximately 300 islands, many of them uninhabited, scattered across the South Pacific. Nevertheless, air traffic concentrates on Viti Levu, the largest island, served by Nadi Airport, which handles some 30 international flights daily. With over a million passenger arrivals a year, Fiji is one of the major air transport hubs of the Pacific, served by flights from Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.
Fiji Airways, known as Air Pacific until 2012, has been flying to and from this island since 1951. Today, the airline operates flights daily from Los Angeles International to Nadi International Airport, aboard a fleet of Airbus 330 and Boeing 737 aircraft. The flight takes 11 hours. Air New Zealand, Qantas and American Airlines all operate code shares on the Fiji Airways flight, meaning passengers can book fares through them but ultimately take a seat on a Fiji Airways plane.
There are no other flights from the U.S. mainland or Canada to Fiji. The only other flight from the U.S. is through Honolulu in Hawaii, which serves as the connection hub for passengers from the Pacific Coast of Canada who want to avoid a detour to Los Angeles. Flights are operated by Fiji Airways and run three times a week. The typical flight time is six and a half hours, depending on headwinds.
The majority of passenger air traffic into Fiji is from Australia and New Zealand. Frommer’s likens Fiji’s hold on Antipodean vacationers as equivalent to that of the Caribbean for North Americans -- a short flight away into a tropical paradise. Air New Zealand has flights from Auckland, as does Fiji Airways, which also has daily flights from Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, operating a code share with Qantas. The only other airlines flying into Fiji are Jetstar from Sydney and Virgin Australia from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Fiji’s links between Asia, Australia and the U.S. make it a traditional stop on the circuit of backpackers on round the world trips. Fiji Airways previously ran flights direct from Narita International in Tokyo until the service was suspended in 2008. The possibility of reopening the route is under discussion. From Hong Kong, Fiji Airways operates flights three times a week as part of a code share for Cathay Pacific. Korean Air flies direct from Seoul in South Korea. Otherwise, most flights from Southeast Asia transfer through Australia or New Zealand.
